Fire chief's acts raise lots of smoke

Anchorage taxpayers still are waiting to learn what disciplinary action -- if any -- was meted out against Fire Chief Mark Hall when the dust settled after an Oct. 30 incident outside the Hotel Captain Cook.

Something happened, but the details and fallout remain unclear. The administration claims the incident is a personnel issue and there will be no comment. Hall said he was directed to clam up.

This much is known from earlier newspaper reports: Hall was at the hotel with his wife and friends. He was helping -- or hindering, depending on who you talk to -- firefighters summoned to help a drunken woman thought to be having a seizure. She was, by some accounts, kicking and attempting to bite and spit.

The chief, appointed by Mayor Dan Sullivan, was described in a police report by officer Angelina Fraize as intoxicated, but not incapacitated, during the dustup, yelling and putting his finger in her face as she was dealing with the drunken woman, who was leaving in a car.

Veteran fire captain Mark Stephens was heard on an audio recording of the incident trying to defuse a dicey situation, telling Fraize Hall was "out of line."

"It turned into a who-said-what confrontation and Hall demanded the officer's name and badge number and said he would be calling the police chief," the Anchorage Daily News reported. Hall filed a complaint with the police department about her conduct but it was determined to be "unfounded."

Hall later attacked Fraize's account of the incident in a KTUU interview. He said he had kept his hands in his pockets during the hotel encounter and that the police report filed by Fraize was inaccurate. Police union chief Derek Hsieh filed a complaint about the interview with the Municipal Ombudsman's office, which has not filed a report.

During the KTUU interview, Hall dismissed Stephens, a 10-year veteran of the department, as a "new, young officer" and added, "I don't know what is motivating him."

The fire chief's challenge of Fraize's report and his dismissal of Stephens did real damage to their ability to do their jobs. How can Fraize testify in court when a fire chief has called her a liar during a TV interview? If there is a problem at a fire where Stephens is in command and a lawsuit is filed, imagine a lawyer dragging into court Hall's remark about Stephens being a "new, young officer."

The Sullivan administration also asked the police to investigate the incident. It did, forwarding a report about a month ago to City Hall -- where it remains.

Sullivan will say only that "appropriate measures" were taken. On an afternoon talk show, the mayor even went so far as to dismiss the issue as something just not important enough to talk about.

Unfortunately, Hall's position and history make it very important. This is, after all, not his first rodeo. Last year, he asked that a department fire engine, with on-duty firefighters aboard, be sent to Dimond High School to pick up his 15-year-old daughter and take her home.

The disturbing part is not that firefighters did what they were asked to do by a superior. How could they refuse? The disturbing part is what Hall told Daily News columnist Julia O'Malley later: that he did not realize what he had done was wrong until a friend asked him what he was thinking when he asked subordinates to illegally use Fire Department equipment.

For that breach, Hall got a verbal reprimand -- and a note in his file.

Another disturbing aspect of the Oct. 30 aftermath is that the Assembly has shown absolutely no interest in the case.

This much is clear: There are issues of judgment with Hall. Taxpayers have the right to know how one of the city's senior officials was disciplined after calling a police officer a liar, sparking a department investigation of her work, besmirching her reputation and, for good measure, belittling a fire captain. It is especially important because it is his second incident since taking on the chief's job.

Taxpayers who pay Hall's salary should be told what happened. If nothing happened, they deserve to know that too.

No more hide-the-pea.

Paul Jenkins is editor of the anchoragedailyplanet.com.